Hey mamas,
My husband thinks I'm completely paranoid on this. What do you think? (sorry long post ;)
The night before last, my 20 month old was messing around with his sister's scooter (a new razor scooter from christmas). He fell kind of on top of it in the kitchen on the terazzo floor and his finger got smashed. It split open on the side (alongside the fingernail of his ring finger down to the base of the nail). It bled like crazy and we called the after hours clinic at the pediatrician's office to see if we should go there. They said since it might need sutures we need to go to urgent care.
We went to an Urgent Care place we've been before. It has been a good experience for me in the past (although as many of you already know the vaccine issue ALWAYS comes up which I hate). Turns out that the place I had previously went to had moved down the street and this was a new place in that location (new name, same building). Since we had already registered, I decided to stick with it.
The doctor was weird. He came in with a lip full of chewing tobacco which seems very unprofessional. He told us it didn't need stitched and went on to list all the ways in which my son is very healthy- his age, the fact that he's full vaxed etc. and that should help it heal. I told him he was not vaccinated. He got an irritated look and say "can I ask why?" I kind of smirked and told him "I'm not interested in having a vaccine debate right now." He dropped it. He gave us a bunch of advice like how Neosporin is a rip off, just to use tap water and soap to clean, why the cut is not a good candidate for sutures, etc. My DH seemed to like him. I just didn't. He just seemed "off" in a lot of the comments he made.
The next day I took my son to his montessori preschool and told the teachers not to get his finger wet, but if it did get wet (he's ALWAYS tryin to go to that kid sized sink and play in the water) to change the bandage. They called later that day and asked me if his finger didn't need more attention as it looked really bad. I started to wonder if I needed a second opinion (but seeing as how it was too late for stitches at this point anyhow, was not sure if it would do any good). I called the pediatrician and left a message with the nurse. She was going to talk to the ped and call me back. In the meantime, I spoke with one of my good friends who is the head ER nurse at a hospital in Colorado. Based on what I described, he felt the advice we got from the urgent care doc was solid and on target. I relaxed.
Then the nurse called back from the ped's office. She told me that the ped agreed with the advice, but that he felt my son should have a tetanus shot. I get irritated with this kind of advice because I feel by now my doc should know I'm not going to do that, but every once in a while he mentioned a vaccine he thinks we need. I guess perhaps he's obligated to mention it (??) since that's the standard recommendation. I explained to the nurse that I don't think its necessary. That an unvaccinated child would not benefit from the tetanus vaccine anyhow and would need the TIG if that was the case. Also, the wound was not a puncture wound but a smash/split and it bled profusely, happened indoors with a new scooter and was promptly washed and covered.
THEN as I was making dinner later that evening, I got a call from the CDC saying I was "randomly selected" to complete a survey about my children's vaccination status. I have done some googling and I know others on MDC have gotten this call (vaxxing and non vaxxing). However, the lady said I should have received a letter telling me I was selected. I did not. I have been at this address for over 4 years. No reason to have not received it. Also, I find it disturbing and downright creepy that I got this call the next day after going to urgent care and having the weirdo show irritation/concern about our child being non-vaccinated. DH thinks this idea is absurd because he thinks that doc would not care enough to "report" us, and even if he did, the CDC would not act on the info and certainly not that quickly. I find it far too coincidental for my taste.
I read a thread on here from someone who had done the survey and was shocked at how intrusive and manipulative it is. They start with general questions asking for just the child's first initial and by the end, they are asking for your pediatrician's name, the child's name and DOB etc.
I asked the lady what it was for and she said to help the CDC develop policy and to understand vaccination rates in our area. I told her that I did not feel it was truly anonymous (as she had my phone number) and regardless if the personal info was stripped out before passing along the data, I was not interested in giving any answers that may or may not please the CDC and will influence "policy" that will possibly affect my freedom in the future.
The lady was nice and immediately gave me the website info, a phone number to call if I wanted to participate, and a phone number for the ethics review board.
Something does not compute here. WHY can they just not go based on anonymous data from docs or insurance companies? It seems like a highly invasive way to gather data with lots of personal info attached. I've read people on MDC that think its simply because a lot of parents forget or misremember their child's shot history. If the data comes from docs/insurance, this would not be an issue.
And I worry that those who have given their docs info out are simply giving the CDC reason to put heat on them to pressure patients into compliance.
Do you think I have reason to be disturbed or this was some messed up coincidence (my letter never having arrived AND getting the call right after that annoyed urgent care doc)?
For those of you who want to know more about the survey questions, this mama's experience is good to read about.
XOXO
B
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